Posts Tagged ‘american craft beer’

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Tyranena Brewing Company Chief Blackhawk Porter

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
tyranena brewing company chief blackhawk porter

Tyranena Chief Blackhawk Porter

Chief Blackhawk Porter by Tyranena Brewing Company is one of the very first American Porters that I had that hooked me on the style. I had dabbled in porters before but Chief Blackhawk really helped define the style and what it could be.

Chocolate and coffee carry this malty beer on the nose, both come through in the taste with minimal bitterness in the finish. The combination of body and carbonation perfectly fit the beer.

I will continue to frequent Chief Blackhawk each time I have a chance as it always leaves a smile on the senses. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 9 (15%), Drinkability: 9 (35%), Overall: 9.0

Useless Fact: Only female bees work. Males remain in the hive and literally do nothing, their only mission in life being to fertilize the queen bee on her maiden flight. For this purpose literally thousands of males are hatched, out of which only one or two mate with the queen. After they have served their function, the males are not allowed back into the hive but are left outside, where they starve to death.

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Half Acre Beer Company Daily Double

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
half acre beer company daily double

Half Acre Daily Double

I feel lucky that Half Acre Beer Company is within an hour of the house. I like American craft brewers that are willing to make and release one offs on a regular basis. I have yet to have one that I haven’t liked. I knew I couldn’t make it on release day and was surprised, after a phone call on Saturday, that they still had plenty left of Daily Double.

My next thought quickly changed to how to convince the wife to drive out the brewery while on a date night. I barely made the suggestion and my wife was all for it. Awesome. Getting good American craft beer is always easier when the wife is 100% all in.

Daily Double is loaded full of Citra hops. The tropical fruit aroma can be had from a few feet away from the glass. Joined by caramel, bread, and wood, the scent is top notch and mildly remind of Zombie Dust. The taste follows and is quite the easy drinker.

If this became a year-round release, I wouldn’t complain one bit. Time to share with my each coast trading buddies. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 10 (15%), Drinkability: 8 (35%), Overall: 8.8

Useless Fact: TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

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Rising Tide Brewing Company Atlantis

Saturday, January 7th, 2012
rising tide brewing company atlantis

Rising Tide Atlantis

My trading partner from Maine, Matt, continues to send me fantastic American craft beers from his nape of the neck. This last shipment included a bevy of Rising Tide Brewing Company options. The first pull of the lot is Atlantis, a Cascadian Dark Ale.

American craft brewing is about letting the artisinal side show through. This beer does with a heaping helping of smoke malt that becomes the dominant malt in the beer. Roast and even chocolate find their way, while strong pine and citrus hops balance. In spite of the peat level, the beer is well balance and quite easy to drink. The peat that I mention, in spite of being dominant, isn’t huge which is a saving grace for the beer. I would definitely have this beer. I hope the hint sinks in.

I don’t know how long the Rising Tide has been around but it doesn’t seem like there are ton of different brews of theirs floating around. I think Matt sent me just about everything. Now I just need him to upload pics onto the site. ;) Enjoy!

Aroma: 8 (25%), Taste: 7 (25%), Look: 10 (15%), Drinkability: 8 (35%), Overall: 8.1

Useless Fact: Saudi Arabia, which contains one of the largest expanses of desert in the world and through which great camel caravans have traveled for centuries, must import both sand and camels. River sand is sent to Arabia by the ton from Scotland for use in construction; desert sands are not suitable for building purposes. And since camel herds are dwindling in Arabia, camels must be imported from North Africa.

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Hub City Brewing Company Snowbunny Ale

Thursday, January 5th, 2012
hub city brewing company snowbunny ale

Hub City Snowbunny Ale

If you have followed my ramblings over the past few years, you might recall that I have wanted to complete the 50 states of American craft beer. For those out of the loop, simply put it is having at least one rating on Two Beer Dudes from each of the 50 United States. I have slowly chipped away. This is not the post that celebrates me finishing said endeavor. This post is about knocking Iowa off the list. I believe I am down to five give or take a couple. Maybe this should have been one of my New Year’s resolutions.

Snowbunny Ale, a cream ale, by Hub City Brewing Company becomes the cherry popper from Iowa. They say you never forget your first. That is unfortunate in this case. Snowbunny did nothing to remind me of one. The look and aroma started off half-way decent but once I tasted the beer, that was it. I was done. It tasted like a cream soda. Yuck!

One below average beer from Iowa won’t scare me away, I will be back for more. I will have to plan my next American craft beer from the state better. Enjoy!

Aroma: 8 (25%), Taste: 5 (25%), Look: 8 (15%), Drinkability: 5 (35%), Overall: 6.2

Useless Fact: Dartmouth was the only college in New England to remain open during the entire Revolutionary War.

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2012 American Craft Beer Resolutions

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

I can’t believe that 2011 is already gone. So many broken resolutions but at least I kept the most important one: 365 American Craft Beers in 365 Days. This endeavor was probably the highlight of my year, especially since I made it.

What did I lose out on? The biggest is my waist line. Bigger than ever and growing. I wanted to lose weight or at least maintain but that eroded rather quickly. I have remade that my number one 2012 goal. I would like to drop 10 pounds the first quarter of the year; trying to make my goal feasible and reasonable. I think if I break the weight loss into smaller segments, smaller goals I will find a way to achieve and thrive. I will not give up my American craft beer but I will cut back on food intake and junk food intake while trying to up the number of salads. I will keep sweets in but not on a daily basis but, hopefully, a weekly basis and under control in portion size. I am too embarrassed to list my weight but I will try to update on the weight loss/gain periodically.

Now onto the good stuff: American craft beer resolutions. I don’t have many and none are complicated.

  • Home brew more. I really enjoy home brewing. I brewed last Monday and Friday. I am ready to brew again, I just need more carboys. The goal here is to get really good with a core group of beers that I can serve all the time. If I was younger and had money, I would probably pursue this as a career path.
  • Visit at least five breweries I haven’t been to. This past year I sort of slacked. If it wasn’t for the summer trip, I don’t think I would have hit any up.
  • Limit my American craft beer budget. American craft beer is getting more and more expensive, especially as the hipsters try to get in, trying to turn a buck. Home brewing will see a bigger piece of my budget so something has to give. This is the obvious choice.

My last resolution: spend more quality time with the family. I hope everyone has a prosperous and healthy 2012. Enjoy!

Useless Fact: North Texas State University gives a degree in “dance-band arts”.

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The Bruery Oude Tart

Saturday, December 31st, 2011
the bruery oude tart

The Bruery Oude Tart

New Years Eve. The year is over. It is necessary to celebrate with an American craft beer that would send the year off with a bang.

Oude Tart by The Bruery, from what I understand, is a one-time release that could only be picked up a the brewery. Does it come out annually? I believe it is aged some eighteen months.

The funk of the beer seemed to arise from some type of Brett inoculation as there are barnyard and earthy aromas and flavors. Cherry dark fruit adds complexity while there is tart rather than sour tones.

Quite a nice drinking beer, mildly dry, that kept the senses wanting. Nicely done. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 8 (25%), Look: 10 (15%), Drinkability: 9 (35%), Overall: 8.9

Useless Fact: A ‘jiffy’ is a unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

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Goose Island Beer Company Christmas Ale

Thursday, December 29th, 2011
goose island beer co. christmas ale

Goose Island Christmas Ale

No matter how much I try to get into the Christmas spirit I never really go much for seasonal American craft beer. Christmas Ale by Goose Island Beer Company doesn’t really fall into that category as it is an American Brown Ale but any beer with “Christmas” in the title brings those notions to my head.

Christmas Ale should definitely be left out for a bit before drinking as straight from refrigeration isn’t a good idea: bitter dark malt and grotesquely bitter overall. After a bit of warming the beer settles done and drinks quite well.

My orginal rating, almost two years ago, probably should be updated as Christmas Ale is better than an average beer. I would say it is in the lower eight range.

Tonight is the last Thursday night get together for Rich, Chuck, Steve, and myself. I hope all is up for a few good beers before the New Year. Enjoy!

Aroma: 7 (25%), Taste: 7 (25%), Look: 7 (15%), Drinkability: 7 (35%), Overall: 7.0

Useless Fact: Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.

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Onion Pub & Brewery Hop Slayer

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

calvin pissed off

I think this is the week of being pissed. I ranted recently about the haul I received form my Secret Santa and today I am going to rant about something else. Hopefully I get this out of my system before the weekend officially starts.

The wife and kids met up with me for dinner at Jak’s Tap in Chicago for dinner. I was there a bit before them as light rain was falling making their travel slow. I ordered a Hop Slayer by Onion Pub & Brewery which is an American IPA. The beer was above average with pine and citrus hops in the aroma but seeming to fade minutes after receiving the tulip. Taste has some back end bitterness but overall fairly clean.

I wanted to check out the Onion’s web site but upon arrival I was requested to give up my email address to see the brewery site. There was no way around it. I even filled it out with bogus information but then had to confirm via an email they sent. The short of it: without giving up my email address I couldn’t see their site. Fuck that! Therefore there are no vitals for the beer or the brewery on Two Beer Dudes to link to from the blog entry.

That sickens me. Do they really believe their site is such an important stop for people that they will eagerly give up their email address so they can be spammed by the Onion? I hope not, but people are stupid. Unless they are sending me gold bar in the mail for allowing me to send their stank, go kindly fuck yourself.

Okay, that is enough. I am also done with the swearing in my entries too. I like to swear when I get pissed. Enjoy!

Useless Fact: Cinderella’s slipper, many scholars believe, was made of fur, not glass. The word verre, or “glass,” they claim, was incorrectly substituted in early versions of the story for the word vaire. In medieval French, vaire means “fur.”

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Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted Ale

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

retro christmast party

The annual work Christmas gathering is a good time. Appetizers abound and the so do the drinks. We have it at a local place named Jak’s. They serve up some rockin’ solid food and have an above average American craft beer tap list. There are usually at least 20 American craft beers on tap from all over the Midwest with some from the fringes of the coasts. I would never say their tap lists competes with the “hot spots” for American craft beer but holds it own while catering to trying to convert the macro people.

By the time I left work, there was a server timing issue, I only had an hour at the party before I had to head out to the “local to work” home brew shop. I had to pick up some supplies for the Hefeweizen that I am brewing for a work Holiday party in late January that the wife and I are hosting.

In my brief appearance, Two Hearted Ale by Bell’s Brewery, Inc, caught my eye. I hadn’t had it in a while, which is shameful of me, so I thought that I could have it at the pinnacle of taste and aroma: on tap. Two glasses later I had reconfirmed that Two Hearted is one of the best year round American IPAs that is brewed in the Midwest and can hold it’s own against the entire nation.

Citrus and floral hops jump out of the glass while balancing a sweet caramel malt backbone. Two Hearted is in perfect harmony, easy drinking, and refreshing. It is definitely a year round beer that can even be appreciated by non hop heads. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 9 (15%), Drinkability: 9 (35%), Overall: 9.0

Useless Fact: Rhubarb is named after the Volga River. In Greek the name of Volga is Rha, and barb means “uncultivated.” Rhubarb is thus a wild plant that grows along the Volga.

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Utah Brewers Cooperative Squatters Hop Rising

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
utah brewers cooperative squatters hop rising

Squatters Hop Rising

Squatters Hop Rising is an American craft beer brewed up by Utah Brewers Cooperative and is an American Imperial India Pale Ale. I received this beer as part of a Secret Santa BIF on one of the beer sites. When I send my beer, whether for a BIF or straight trade, I make sure that all the beer that needs to be fresh, is fresh. Unfortunately Hop Rising made it apparent that it was not fresh. The hops had fallen out and it was a caramel malt forward beer. The base beer was solid but the aroma and flavor hops were no where to be found.

I feel I really couldn’t give a fair score of Hop Rising, so enough on that topic. Hopefully I will get a fresh bottle some day. Now onto the rant :)

I only do a Secret Santa BIF because I have a tendency to go above an beyond and believe there are cheap asses out there that will barely meet the minimum, after all there hearts are made of stone and they think that they are under no obligation. I try to think that people are good and upon entering a SS the best in them will bubble up to the top. This year my thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth.

The person that sent to me was from Texas. Don’t jump to conclusions, I have nothing against people from Texas. The beer I received was mainly locals and most of the locals carry a lower end of a decent beer scores. The person said he was trying to send beer that showed off his state’s brewing prowess. Great, just make sure that fucking beers are good. There are beers from Illinois, the state I live in and proud of, that I would would never send to someone. Show off the best of your state not the mediocre shit you can pick up off the shelves. Besides all of this, he only sent me one beer that was to my favorite style. That just points to laziness, no effort, and I don’t give a shit attitude.

As part of the SS you are also supposed to send glassware, a shirt, and some type of seasonal food. I received one Weiss beer glass, that’s it. No shirt and no food. I posted to him that this wasn’t there and he said this is about the beer and forgot to send the food but nothing about a shirt. I don’t think the food would have fit and he obviously blew off the shirt part of the BIF. I just love that he said it was about the beer, that is true, so where the hell are some beers that show you actually gave some thought and effort?

I am pissed, if you haven’t figured that out yet. I might not participate next year. I really wanted to rip the guy on the message boards but trying to be civil, I did not, so I chose this forum. I even saw another person, that was sent beer from Texas, that received a worse group of beer and goodies than me.

It saddens me that people shit on the SS BIF and will probably end up receiving much, much more beer and higher quality beer than I received and there is nothing I can do about. There really isn’t an avenue that will make the situation better. Now that I have said my peace I will move on but the SS BIF is going to lose one of the people that actually put a ton of effort into making sure the target is happy. Enjoy!

Aroma: 6 (25%), Taste: 6 (25%), Look: 9 (15%), Drinkability: 6 (35%), Overall: 6.5

Useless Fact: Question: What is unusual about the sentence “Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz”? Answer: It is the shortest English sentence yet devised to include all the letters of the alphabet.

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